


Family Dinner

by Shevi



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Baby Iris, Found Family, Gen, Major Spoilers, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers, can't believe ai is even forcing me to write my own fanfic for the first time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 13:04:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21494764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shevi/pseuds/Shevi
Summary: She was so excited…They were going to be a family, a real family, the three of them…There’d always be those three plates on the table.Always.
Relationships: Date Kaname & Sagan Iris, Sagan Iris & Sagan Hitomi, Sagan Iris & Sagan Hitomi & Date Kaname
Comments: 15
Kudos: 60





	Family Dinner

Iris had always loved making dinner with her mom.

As soon as she was old enough to come near the scary stove, she begged Mommy to teach her how to make chocolate-chip pancakes and omurice with cats on it and so many other tasty things. After all, Mommy worked so hard to take care of Iris, all on her own—isn’t it just obvious, for her to help? When Iris told Mommy her reasoning, she just laughed and gently stroked Iris’s hair.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re so kind to me… you don’t have to worry about me, but if you’re sure, then I appreciate the help. How about we try making stew today?”

And then, suddenly, the two plates on the table turned into three.

Mommy’s friend, who Iris called Uncle, would come over sometimes to eat dinner with them. He was nice to her and it made Mommy really happy, so Iris was all too glad for it. She loved doing everything with her mommy, but finally it wasn’t just them anymore, and it made every day so exciting!

One day, he even made dinner for them. Mommy had fallen asleep on the couch after a long day teaching, and when Uncle came and saw her there, looking so peaceful, he just stared at her for a moment before turning to Iris with a small smile.

“How do you feel about cooking with me tonight, kid? It’ll be a treat for your mom, for once she wakes up.”

And with that, a new tradition began in the Sagan household—every other night Uncle came to have dinner with them, they’d all cook together. That was how the Okonomiyaki War happened, too—when he decided he was gonna cook okonomiyaki one night, it didn’t go very well, and one landed right on Mommy’s head. While Iris laughed and laughed at how silly it looked, Mommy put an okonomiyaki on Iris’s head and Uncle’s too, and it turned into a really big war as they flung food all around the kitchen and at each other. Eggs, flour, mayo, all of their messy weapons flew everywhere and got on everything, and the three of them had so much fun—they all agreed it was one night they’d _never_ forget.

Iris was so excited for the day to come when he wouldn’t be her “Uncle” anymore, but instead be her “Dad”. Even if Mommy wouldn’t say it, she knew that day would come. She was so excited… they were going to be a family, a _real family_, the three of them… there’d always be those three plates on the table.

Always.

But then, that “always”

turned into

“never again.”  
  


* * *

  
It happened when Iris was out of the house. She went to a friend’s house to play for the afternoon, that’s all, but when she came back—

When she came home—

(“Is this the daughter? Please, calm down—is your name Iris Sagan? Your mom is—well, she’s—”)

There was so much movement, so many voices. Iris doesn’t remember it very well; she just remembers how confused she was, how scared, how there were so many police officers, a whole crowd of them like a sea of blue, and they took her with them before she knew what was going on, saying things that she didn’t understand, they didn’t listen—

(“What do you mean, Mommy’s hurt? She can’t be in the hospital! I saw her just a few hours ago!”)

And then she was there, in the hospital, and Mommy was laying on that white bed in that white room and Iris was so scared, so scared, she didn’t want to lose her mommy, Mommy said she’d always be there for her, Iris _needs_ her—

(“Mommy, don’t die! Don’t die! Please don’t die Mommy!_Don’t die!_”)

A nurse with soft eyes told her that the surgery went well. Her mommy was going to be okay, at least, but she said that… she wouldn’t be able to move her right arm? Iris didn’t really get it—the arm was still there, even if she hurt it, so why can’t she move it?

Iris thought that maybe she could kiss it better, like what Mommy did for her when she scraped her knee, but Mommy just smiled sadly and told her that wouldn’t work this time. She said she really couldn’t move it, or even feel it. She said nothing would fix it—no doctors with their fancy tools, no magic kisses.

And so, Iris decided that she was going to help Mommy as much as she possibly could from then on, even more than she already did.

Of course, that definitely meant cooking. Mommy couldn’t use her right hand anymore, which rested in a cast for now, so Iris thought it’d be safer for her to cook. They were both glad that Iris had learned to make quite a few recipes by then, but there was one thing that made confused Mommy her first night back home.

“Iris… why are there three plates?” she asked, her voice quiet. Iris looked up from the food and saw the worry in her mom’s eyes, but wasn’t sure why.

“Uncle’s overdue for a visit,” Iris announced, turning back to get more rice. Mommy should eat a lot to keep her strength up, she thought. “He’s gonna knock on the door any minute now, and he’ll wanna know all about your cast. I guess he might come tomorrow instead or something, but I wanna be ready!”

“You… remember what I told you before, don’t you? Mr. Falco—your uncle, he’s not… he’s not going to be able to…”

“You’re wrong,” Iris said, her voice shaking just a little, “you’re wrong. He’s going to come. We need him. Uncle wouldn’t just leave us alone when we need him. We were gonna be a _family_, the three of us, he wouldn’t just…”

Mommy stood up right then and gently pulled her into a hug. Surrounded by the warmth of her mommy’s love, Iris couldn’t help but start crying into her shoulder, even if she didn’t want to—she wanted to be strong for her mommy, to protect her, but the idea of her uncle leaving… it scared her, even if she didn’t believe it. She wouldn’t believe it. Because it _wasn’t true,_ it couldn’t be.

Her mommy didn’t do anything about the tears falling down her own cheeks, instead whispering comforting words into her daughter’s ear.

Though, in all those words of comfort, she never reassured her that Uncle would come back.  
  


* * *

  
Things continued like that for about three weeks.

Iris would cook meals for three while Mommy watched her quietly, her eyes sad.

They would try to talk about their days, Iris telling her about her friends at school and Mommy saying how she was making progress learning to use her left hand, but neither of them were as cheerful as before.

No one would touch the third plate, and the food would grow cold.

They would curl up together on the couch and hold each other close, listening for the familiar knocks on the door that wouldn’t come, watching at the empty chair across from them that wouldn’t be filled. They’d stay there until Iris started to fall asleep, and Mommy would help her to her bedroom.

Every night, it was the same.

Eventually, a night came when Iris started to take out a third plate, but stopped and held it in her hands, staring at it.

“Mommy, he’s… he’s not gonna come… is he? Uncle isn’t… he’s not coming anymore.”

Just like that first night, Mommy went to Iris’s side right away. She led her to the couch, the plates and food left forgotten in the kitchen, and together they sat.

“I’m so, so sorry, Iris…”

Her mommy’s voice was so _sad_—that had been a constant, these past weeks, but she just sounded so, so sad, more than before—and it finally hit her all at once.

Iris’s heart had steadily grown heavier each night when the knock on the door never came, but now—it was like it grew twice as heavy in a single moment, but at the same time it felt so empty, like the all happiness that had filled it only three weeks ago had just… drained out.

And then the tears came.

She sobbed, and she wailed, and she cried and she cried and she cried.

Iris kept asking over and over again through her tears. “Why did he leave?” “Where did he go?” “Where is he?” “Why won’t he come see us?” “Why?”

But Mommy didn’t seem to have any answers. She just kept saying that she was sorry, so sorry, whispering through her own tears. Iris had never seen her mommy shed so many tears before, and she never saw her shed so many again.

Iris wasn’t sure if Mommy was crying for herself, or for Iris, or for Uncle, or for all of them.

After that, Iris stopped making food for three people.

It was just the two of them again.

Two plates, sitting on the same old table.

Just like before.

As if the third had never come to begin with.  
  


* * *

  
“Iris, do you need any help with dinner?”

Her mother’s voice snapped Iris out of her reverie, surprising her to the point of nearly dropping the plate she had been staring at as she daydreamed.

“Ah—no, Mom, I got it! Sorry, just a sec,” she replied, grabbing a fourth plate before setting them both on the counter and piling their dinner on. Iris had made salisbury steaks for them, at Mizuki’s request, and everyone was happy to comply.

In just a few minutes, she finished dishing up the food and put the plates on the table. Uncle and Mizuki had come over for dinner, to have a smaller celebration of Iris’s recovery compared to all the big parties she’d been going to these past few days after her release from the hospital.

“Spacing out a bit, huh?” Uncle said, clearing his throat before adding, “...are you okay? If you feel sick, or something…”

Iris laughed slightly. He was trying to hide his concern, but it was written all over his face. Some things just don’t change, she supposed.

“Nah, I’m fine. I was just… thinking about how you used to come here for dinner all the time, back then. How lonely we were when you stopped coming. But now you’re back, and things are even more lively than before. I love it,” she smiled at each of them in turn. Her family, who she wouldn’t give up for anything. Her dear mother, her very best fighter friend, and her father, who had finally come back.

After all these years, the familiar knock on the door _finally came back_, and it brought even more life and laughter to their house than ever before.

**Author's Note:**

> Did you know there's three plates on the table in SINKIN' IN THE BRaiN?  
I learned that recently and that gave me a very sad idea.
> 
> Anyways I've never really wrote fic before but apparently in the AI fandom, I gotta learn to feed myself the content I want. Hopefully I can write some happier fic soon!
> 
> Feel free to give advice or something, just be gentle please!
> 
> Thanks to AAABatteries, mimzy630, and my sister for beta-ing this for me!


End file.
